Hookah lounge may come to Allentown

A Valley first, it would occupy space at Union Street Plaza. Zoners still must decide.

June 16, 2009|By Jarrett Renshaw OF THE MORNING CALL

Two brothers want to open the Valleys first hookah lounge, saying the Arab-American equivalent of a cigar parlor would attract young professionals from across the region.

There is a very high demand for a hookah lounge in the Lehigh Valley, which has a large Arab-American community. Right now, the closest lounge is in Philadelphia, Jafar Abuyounis said Monday.

Abuyounis and his brother Hamzeh Abuyounis will have to wait until next month to see if their dream comes true after the Allentown Zoning Hearing Board delayed a decision on their application Monday.

The lounge, if approved, would become the first tenant at the newly renovated Union Street Plaza at Second and Union streets.

The building, which has struggled to attract tenants, was home to Lehigh River Bait and Bow for nearly 20 years.

The site is zoned limited industrial, and a hookah lounge is a prohibited use in the zone.

The 1,500 square-feet lounge would open primarily at night and provide a soothing atmosphere where people can listen to live music and smoke tobacco, often flavored, through a hookah  called an arghile (ah-GEE-la) in Arabic culture.

The hookah allows smoke to pass through water before being drawn through a hose and mouthpiece. It can be used to decorate a living room or as a pocket-sized device passed around at parties.

I remember growing up and watching my father and his friends smoke at barbecues. Its a part of our culture and the lounge would be a great cultural, social atmosphere, said Jafar Abuyounis, who is of Jordanian descent.

A 2008 joint study by the health departments of Lehigh and Northampton counties shows that Arab-Americans are more fond of tobacco than the general population.

The study found that 22 percent of local Arab-Americans smoked a hookah daily or weekly, surpassing daily cigarette smoking in the general population by 2 percent.